Sunday Stills: Powerful Pink

When I was young, I avoided the color pink. To my mind, it meant girly, frivolous, and fragile; none of which were attributes I desired. I was not a “princess,” nor did I want to look like one.

Lately, though, I’ve begun to see pink – in all its tints, shades, and intensities – as much more than a color to be shunned for its cautious nature. In fact, now pink is associated with feminine power and protest (think pussy hats and pink triangles), doing battle against breast cancer and, in the last few years, a shade that has been adopted by a whole generation (check out #millennialpink with its 71.8K posts on Instagram).

Mother nature is also a big fan. She uses pink’s many shades to decorate much of her flora and fauna, stones and shells. And, just to show off, she frequently paints the early morning and late afternoon skies with a splendid array of pinks that are both glorious and powerful.

Dragon Fruit, sliced and ready to eat.
The pink color of flamingos comes from carotenoid proteins in their diet.
Echeveria succulent after the rain.
Budding flower at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens.
West coast sunrise, San Diego
East coast sunset, Key West.

I even wear pink now and, when I do, I don’t feel frivolous and fragile at all.

For more visions of pink, visit Terri Webster Schrandt’s blog, Second Wind Leisure. She has some great examples of her theme as well as links to photos by other participants. While you’re at it, why don’t you submit a few of your own?

Author: Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com

My blog is about travel, relationships, photography, and whatever else pops into my head (even, sometimes, issues surrounding retirement and aging).

88 thoughts on “Sunday Stills: Powerful Pink”

  2. Beautiful examples of the color pink! Stunning! You make me think again about my own lack of enthusiasm for pink! I need to think again, I’d say!

      1. Do you recall “Steel Magnolias” and all the talk about “blush” and “bashful” pink…Julia Roberts’ “signature colors?” LOL! I thought that was so funny in part because I didn’t like the pink. But you’re right…many shades to choose from!

    1. Funny story… I was standing with a large group of people watching that sunset. As soon as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, most of the crowd dissipated. I thought, “wait, this is when it starts getting good” and, it did! A lot of the original crowd didn’t even see it.

  7. Hi, Janis – When I was a little girl I ABSOLUTELY LOVED pink for many of the reasons that you shunned it — especially the princess part! 😀
    I have to admit it, I still LOVE pink. It lifts my mood — just like your awesome photos did this evening!

  9. That delicious looking dragon fruit jumps right out at me, making me yearn for one right now (it’s one of our favorite fruit), and I’d definitely wear a shirt that color any time 🙂

    One more addition to your collection… Though we haven’t been there (yet!) there’s a natural pink lake in Australia, Lake Hiller, that’s supposed to be quite a sight!

  14. I have always loved pink and painted my bedroom myself with a lovely shade of pink when I was a teen. It’s truly a beautiful color but it has come to symbolize so much. Many avoid it in protest but it’s just a color in the end. Lovely pictures.

  16. Your images are sublime, Janis, and I’m so glad you could share for Sunday Stills this week. My mom dressed me in pink as a young girl which horribly clashed with my red hair! I now wear pink proudly these days, but in more subdued shades. I’m sorry I’ll miss you this weekend while we are there, enjoy your time!

  17. These are such beautiful examples of pink ! Pink is not really a favorite color of mine; very few of the pastels are. But these pictures bring pink together with other beautiful colors — such effortless beauty !

  18. Stunning pictures, Janis. Love the pinks in the flamingo. There are certain shades I like more than others. I gravitate to the salmons and orangy pinks.

  19. I was the same way about pink when I was younger. I like pink now in its various shades, as your photos so perfectly demonstrate, but back then not so much.

      1. Only child here, but my parents both thought pink clothes on girls were weak, so they put in me in red more often than pink. Some kind of subtle message there I suppose.

  20. Some fabulous pinks there! I’m not a fan of pastel pink but I always have at least one vibrant pink item in my wardrobe. I have a bright pink raincoat which cheers up miserably days, although it’ll be going into storage soon as it’s not warm enough for winter.

  21. For all the reasons you mention, I’ve never cared for pale girly pinks. And these days I tend to avoid the color because it looks too “grandmotherly.” But take it to a deep, rich fuschia or on into any shade of purple and I’m in, big time.

  22. Your photos with shades of pink are amazing Janis … you are right, pink is so many different shades, none look the same and you have captured quite an array. I was dressed in pink when I was young. My bedroom now is in shades of pink and pale teal. I went onto Instagram to view the #millennialpink – I scrolled forever just to view the pink rage. Obviously not a sissy color. Loved the statue of a Greek or Roman with the bubblegum. 🙂

      1. Janis – I just went to my room to see the framed picture of a young girl dressed in pink, staring out the window, a basket of pink flowers near her feet. It is a famous painting and I could not see the artist’s name. Googled to no avail. The framed picture was really too big for the room, but the room was done, just painted, papered and just matched perfectly and I had to have it. I’m going to look closer tomorrow and see if I can find a name on the picture. Maybe with a zoom lens? That’s a sign of getting old. 🙂

          1. The odd things is, I found the name (V. Babbit) (as far as I could tell), yet when I Google to find the picture, it comes up as an artist who did animation. I’ve found the picture before when I showed someone else. Oh well. I’ll find it one day and be able to show you. I can’t fit it into a post unfortunately.

  23. Like you, I was never fond of pink when I was younger. Then, I must have put something pink on, just for fun, looked in the mirror, and liked what I saw. Now, I go through periods of preferring pink, blue, or purple in my wardrobe. Of course, these are LONG periods as my clothes last forever and rarely get replaced. 🙂

    I’m a fan of pink in nature as well. And, it has nothing to do with my frivolous feminine attributes, since I don’t have any! Beautiful photos, Janis.

  24. Me too! I wasn’t a “girly girl” when I was young either, and rarely wore pink. But now I think it’s a great color, as it does symbolize fighting breast cancer and the true power of women. Plus, it’s just plain beautiful!

    1. Pink has had an interesting history… it means different things in different cultures and once was considered predominantly a male color. I also learned that it was the name of a flower before it was the name of the color. I have several pink items in my wardrobe, but my favorite pinks are those that Mother Nature uses to paint our world.

  27. I am a reformed ‘anti-pinker’ as well. When I was a kid, my sister was the girly, girl all swathed in pink. I came second, the tomboy that went for everything blue (perhaps an early indicator that I’d be living on the sea). I discovered pink in my 40s when I FINALLY became confident in myself and no longer cared what anyone thought. Blue is still my favorite but pink is a close second. Your pink parade of pictures is simply marvelous with the last being my favourite (of course). Ahoy from Cartagena where we are prepping the boat to head through the Canal and up Mexico way. Should be in the Sea of Cortez by February.

          1. We are sailing all the way to Puerto Peñasco … s meer 5.5 hours from your backyard. We plan to store the boat there and return stateside for a year or so somI can find a Project Management role to replenish the cruising kitty.

  28. Janis, this is a beautiful representation of pink. I like how you presented the Dragon fruit and of course I am partial to the sunset from Mallory Square in Key West! You are right in my back yard with that one and the Flamingo.

    1. We get gorgeous sunsets here on the West Coast (especially in the fall), but that sunset we saw from Mallory Square was one of the most spectacular I’ve ever seen. It was so odd, though, how most of the crowd stopped watching when the sun dipped below the horizon… they missed to best part!

  29. Beautiful tribute to a bright and charming, but under appreciated color. Do you think I could stand to benefit from a little pink in my monotonous black and navy blue wardrobe?

  30. Hi Janis, I had never thought about Pink as Powerful. It has a nice ring to it. Huge WOW on the #millennialpink. Interesting about the colour pink and the flamingos. I did a mini research on flamingos this year since it coincidentally came up in conversation with my family, Your photos are exceptionally beautiful! I may wear pink tomorrow and lift the mood on a rainy day. I am meeting up with a delightful friend of yours who LOVEs pink:)

    1. I had seen the term “Millennial Pink” here and there, but this photo prompt got me to look into it further… wow, is right! I can’t think of another generation that has a color named after them (“Baby Boomer Blue”?). Have fun on your meet-up with Donna!

  31. I am with you on the transformation to loving pink. After shunning pink for years, my favorite running attire is now hot pink. My niece made a pink pussy hat for me, which I wear proudly! 🙂

  32. Janis, more beautiful photos! Like you, I hated pink as a child. In retrospect, I can see that it wasn’t the colour itself that I disliked, but what it symbolized in terms of gender differentiation. As the only girl in a family with three brothers, I always got stuck with the pink item in any prepackaged set that we shared. Colours to differentiate genders are still common — children’s toy stores still have pink and purple aisles full of princesses for girls and aisles of machines and items of destruction for boys. I am very happy to see that my daughter and son in law refuse to buy into this as they raise their two sons. My grandsons wear pink or purple if they feel like it, along with every other colour, and they are not shamed for expressing their feelings. They also have been allowed to try nail polish and own necklaces and bracelets (along with trucks, and building toys, and super hero capes).

    Jude

    1. I agree with you about the reasoning behind my aversion to pink. I wanted to be more like my two older brothers than the girly-girls I knew. Fortunately, my mom was an early feminist and didn’t force me into pink. I like that a lot of kids nowadays are left to determine their own tastes… not be boxed into what society says is masculine or feminine.

      1. I adore pink flowers especially blossom and peonies, and little girls in pink tutus — most of whom grow up to be raging feminists, My costume for reading the Elsie poems is a pink Alice band. I wear a coral puffer jacket about 200 days of the year. I think that’s a yes.

  36. I have my own childhood association with pink. When I was about four years old my grandmother asked me what my favorite color was. I said pink, without thinking really. For the next 25 years every gift, every piece of clothing she brought me was pink… which turned me off the color, until recently when I was given a bright fuschia pink by my mother in law which I love and has me looking at pink in a whole new way… its much the color of your bud in the one photo. Great collection of pink pics!

    Peta

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